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Post by Giatros on Jan 5, 2011 5:30:55 GMT -5
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Post by Giatros on Jan 5, 2011 6:48:19 GMT -5
The Sydney Morning Herald - smh.com.auBaghdatis to meet Roddick in quarter finalDarren Cartwright January 5, 2011Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis will get an early indication of his form leading into the Australian Open when he meets second seed Andy Roddick in the quarter final of the Brisbane International on Thursday night. Baghdatis booked a date with Roddick after crushing Poland's Lukasz Kubot 6-2 6-2 in just over an hour on Pat Rafter Arena on Wednesday night. Although it was the opening match of the night session, it was far from a contest and one that never fully tested Baghdatis. Baghdatis raced to 4-0 lead in the opening set after twice breaking Kubot's serve. The Pole showed some fight in winning the next two games but then retreated. The second set was a similar story with Baghdatis breaking serve immediately and then keeping his embattled rival at bay for an easy victory. The win catapults the 25-year-old into yet another quarter final and he has continued on from his solid 2010 season. He made the quarter final or better in 11 tournaments last year and was the only player to beat Raphael Nadal and Roger Federer while they were No.1 during the season. He beat Federer in March in the third round of the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Indian Wells and Nadal at the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Cincinnati in August. Baghdatis said getting the opportunity to play highly ranked players in Australian Open lead-up tournaments was the perfect preparation for the year's opening Grand Slam event. "It's nice to play guys like Andy - top 10 players," Baghdatis told reporters. "It's a test match before the Australian Open and it will be a great match. "It's nice to get out there and see my negative things, positive things all the things I need to work on. "It's a good test tomorrow because it's Andy Roddick and he's going to push me to the limits." Roddick won through to the quarter final earlier on Wednesday when he defeated Alexandr Dolgopolov 6-4 6-1 in his second straight sets win for the tournament. Baghdatis needed three sets to win his first round match although he was more in control against the 70th ranked Kubot. "I was more fresh (today)," Baghdatis said. "I was very aggressive from the beginning of the game...I played some great points." Baghdatis will meet Roddick in the opening match on Pat Rafter Arena on Thursday night. Go Marcos !!!
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Post by Giatros on Jan 5, 2011 12:28:24 GMT -5
Marcos Cruises Past Kubot
Into Brisbane quarter-finals…After another day to overcome his jetlag, a fresher-feeling Marcos took to the court on Wednesday evening and quickly dismissed Poland’s Lukasz Kubot 6-2, 6-2 to reach the quarter-finals at the Brisbane International. Marcos raced to a 4-0 lead in the first set and despite relinquishing one of the service breaks, he went on to close out a one-set lead by breaking serve for a third time in the seventh game. At the start of the second set Marcos capitalised on his momentum to break serve straight away and one more break of serve in the fifth game helped him secure victory in 64 minutes. Discuss On Facebook | Photo Gallery “I played pretty good today. I was very aggressive from the beginning of the game and I’m very happy about that. I played some great points,” reflected Marcos. “I was more fresh [than in the first round]. Yesterday I had a bad start and I lost the first set pretty quickly and had to fight through. Today I was feeling much better on court, faster. I played better, I thought. On Thursday Marcos will face defending champion and World No. 8 Andy Roddick in the quarter-finals. It will be their first meeting since August 2007, when Roddick won in straight sets at the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournament in Canada. The American also won when the pair met at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia in 2006, but it was Marcos who prevailed in their biggest meeting to date, beating Roddick en route to the Australian Open final in 2006. Marcos vs Roddick: Head-to-Head“It’s nice to play players like Andy, Top 10 players,” said Marcos. “It’s a testing match before the Australian Open. It will be a great match and it’s nice to go out there and see about my negative things, my positive things, and all the things I need to work on.” The match will take place on Pat Rafter Arena not before 7pm local time (9am GMT, 11am Cyprus, 4am ET) on Thursday evening. Check out the full order of play here. TV Schedule | Live Scores Stay tuned to www.baghdatis.com for all the latest news from Brisbane. Go, Marcos!
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Post by getta on Jan 5, 2011 23:53:12 GMT -5
today, hopefully Marcos will use that thing between his ears.
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Post by getta on Jan 6, 2011 6:36:29 GMT -5
Marcos lost to Roddick 6-2 6-3. better luck at the Australian Open, Marcos. today, hopefully Marcos will use that thing between his ears. well, between those ears, mostly sawdust.
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Post by getta on Jan 6, 2011 9:04:31 GMT -5
www.brisbaneinternational.com.au/2011/01/roddick-undefeated-at-pat-rafter-arenaRoddick undefeated at Pat Rafter ArenaAAP Thursday 6 January 2011Defending champion Andy Roddick made it eight from eight by easily winning the battle of the drawcards on Thursday night to set up a semifinal of the big-servers at the Brisbane International. Roddick made light work of popular Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis, cruising to a 6-2 6-3 triumph in 74 minutes at Pat Rafter Arena. After winning the title in his maiden appearance last year, the world No.8′s romp into the last four against the towering Kevin Anderson has given him eight consecutive victories in Brisbane. The ruthless manner of his victory over Baghdatis, last year’s Medibank International Sydney champion, once again showed Roddick’s benefit of a heavy pre-season training schedule to be on track for this month’s Australian Open. Big-serving Anderson, standing at 203 cm, is the sizy obstacle the second seed must pass to make the final after he came from behind to beat Colombian Santiago Giraldo 2-6 6-3 6-4 in his quarterfinal. The South African has a remarkable total of 45 aces from his three matches, blasting 12 against Giraldo. But Roddick has lost just 15 games in total to make it to the semifinal, at the same time firing down a collective 27 aces. After dropping his opening service game, world No.20 Baghdatis looked like he’d be up for the challenge, breaking back to love on the famed Roddick serve as he went on a run of eight points in a row. But the Cypriot’s high unforced error count cost him, as he managed to hold his serve only once in the opening set. Baghdatis continued to go for his big shots in the second set and matched the second seed until the eight game when Roddick broke to love and the clinically killed off the fifth seed.
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Post by Giatros on Jan 6, 2011 16:16:53 GMT -5
Marcos Falls To Roddick
Brisbane campaign ends in quarter-final defeat…World No. 8 Andy Roddick was too good for Marcos on Thursday in the Brisbane International quarter-finals as he cruised to a 6-2, 6-3 victory on another damp day in Queensland. Marcos fought back from an early break down against the defending champion, but could not keep the American at bay in the later stages of the set as he reeled off four straight games to clinch a one-set lead. Both players withstood break point threats at the start of the second set, but Roddick broke down Marcos’ defences in the eighth game as he won the final eight points of the match to seal victory in 74 minutes. Discuss On Facebook | Photo GalleryAfter a quarter-final showing to open the 2011 ATP World Tour season, and the chance to test himself against a Top 10 player, Marcos will now travel to Sydney for the Medibank International, where he is the defending champion. Stay tuned to www.baghdatis.com for all the latest news on Marcos in the lead up to the Australian Open. Go, Marcos!
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